Chapter 55 Handmade Soap
Li Wanyue clasped her hands together, smiled and waved at Li Erhu, then went to the kitchen and roasted the shells that Xiaolan and the others had picked up, finally roasting a small pot of them.
Crush the shells and sift out the powder.
I went to the backyard again, burned some wood ash, poured in boiling water and stirred it, then filtered it with gauze, poured in shell powder and stirred it, filtered it again, and put the wood ash water aside to settle.
When the ink ball is almost ready, pinch it into small pieces, put it in a mold, compact it with gravity, trim the edges, and set it aside to dry.
This time, because there were more ingredients and glue, I made 41 pieces. And with the experience from last time, I made it even better than last time.
The three brothers stared at the ink block with shining eyes, this was all money. The thought of making money made their arms no longer feel sore. When they had time, they must go to the mountains again to see if they could pick up more deer antlers.
I don’t feel tired anymore after this day.
The crowing of cocks announces another day of good weather.
In the yard, several people were cutting bamboo shoots. Li Wanyue asked them to peel the shells directly when picking the bamboo shoots, and then take them to the river to wash them. They could cut them directly when they came back, which saved them the trouble of bringing them back and peeling the shells and cleaning out the shells. This was much more convenient.
Her help was not needed here, so she remembered the broad beans she had bought earlier and went to the kitchen.
Pour some broad beans into a wooden basin, then wash them several times to control the moisture, pour in white wine, mix well, and set aside.
Li Youshan smelled the smell and came forward. He saw that his daughter poured wine into the moldy broad beans. He felt distressed and curious because he hadn't drunk wine for a long time.
"Daughter, what are you doing? Do you need your father's help?"
"I can make bean paste myself. Dad, you are just craving for wine."
"Dad, I'm not greedy. I just smelled the alcohol and came over to take a look."
Li Wanyue smiled and said, "I didn't buy much wine this time. If you want to drink, just drink a little. The wine this time is average. If you want to drink, go to the town to buy it. Otherwise, wait for me to buy you good wine next time I go to the city."
"My daughter is still the best. Dad will be waiting for her." Li Youshan walked out happily.
The others had a simple breakfast and went back to their own work.
Li Wanyue fried the peppercorns until dry, ground them into powder and kept them.
Then, as usual, I taught a few children.
After class, Li Wanyue found Wang Guixiang and asked, "Sister-in-law, can you help me?"
"Okay, what's the matter, tell me."
"Help me melt the lard."
"How long?"
"It's all over."
"Ah? There are two large basins of lard."
"I know, I didn't buy it to eat. Sorry to bother you, sister-in-law, but add some dried tangerine peel when you boil it. I put the dried tangerine peel on the windowsill in the kitchen."
"No trouble." Wang Guixiang wiped her hands and went to get the basin of lard. Her younger sister bought it with her own money, so she could use it however she wanted.
There is still so much rapeseed oil, so just have oil to eat.
Zhao Suying also asked: "Yueyue, what can mother do to help you?"
"Mother, please help me crush the salt and grind the plate of spices I have on the kitchen stove into powder."
Zhao Suying went to the kitchen immediately.
Seeing this, Sun Xiuqin stepped forward and said apologetically, "Little sister, I want to help you with something, but my waist has been injured since I gave birth to Xiaokang, and it's starting to hurt again. I have to go take a rest. I'm really sorry."
Li Wanyue raised an eyebrow and looked at her: "It's okay, sister-in-law, go and have a rest."
Sun Xiuqin smiled and nodded, then turned and went back to her room.
Li Wanyue ignored her and washed, mashed and filtered out the juice of the picked mugwort.
Wang Guixiang scooped out the melted lard.
After expressing her gratitude, Li Wanyue carried two basins of lard to the backyard.
According to the proportion, pour in the upper layer of wood ash, alkaline water and salt that have settled overnight while stirring.
Li Sandong and Wang Guixiang felt so distressed when they saw this. With so much lard, if they were to save it, it would last them a year. However, they said nothing.
While stirring, Li Wanyue called Li Sandong: "Sandong, you stir this, and don't stop in the middle."
"Hey." Li Sandong took the wooden spoon and started stirring.
Li Wanyue added wood ash, alkaline water, salt and mugwort juice into another basin and asked Li Erhu to stir it continuously.
"Second brother, younger brother, if you get tired later, let me take over."
"And me, I can do it too." Li Youshan followed up.
"Okay, you take a rest first and I'll replace you later."
Li Wanyue and Wang Guixiang washed the bamboo that Li Sandong had sawed, wiped it with a cloth, and then hung it upside down on a wooden rack to dry.
Several people took turns stirring, and she stopped only when the lard turned into a thick paste.
Put some jasmine hydrosol into two basins and stir well.
He took the bamboo tube, put the prepared lard into it and sealed it. There were a total of twenty-four bamboo tubes, which were placed under the shady shed in the backyard.
Zhao Suying asked: "Girl, what on earth are you doing?"
"Soap, use it to wash your hands, face, and clothes. It's better than bath beans. Leave it for three days and wait for it to solidify."
"Really?" Li Sandong was surprised. He still remembered that when he went to the county town with his elder sister, his elder sister asked about the price of bath beans. There were only a few small ones for one tael of silver. If it was really that good, then this soap could also be sold for money, right?
"You'll know when the time comes."
Zhao Suying felt bad because it was all made of lard: "Who would be willing to use such precious things to wash clothes? It's OK for washing hands and face."
"Mom, as long as the stuff is good, rich people will buy it. A piece of soap can wash a lot of clothes, and the clothes will be cleaner, isn't that good? If they are not washed clean, the clothes will smell after a long time."
"Okay, this is all your idea. I'll listen to whatever you say."
Li Wanyue smiled and breathed a sigh of relief.
Emma has done the simple cleaning and skin care, which made her busy time worthwhile. She also understood the benefits of having a large family. When encountering problems, more people are better.
Several children came back carrying baskets on their backs. Some contained feed for pigs, and some contained grass for rabbits. They had carefree smiles on their faces.
In the afternoon, she went to the kitchen, added a few spoonfuls of soy sauce to the fermented black beans, and covered the container with a lid.
In the evening, the family had a simple meal, and the broad beans were almost ready to ferment.
Before it got completely dark, Li Wanyue removed the stems of the washed peppers and asked Li Dachuan to chop them up, reminding him to take some precautions to prevent the peppers from irritating his skin.
In a short while, the peppers will be chopped.
Li Wanyue put minced ginger, minced garlic, salt, ground spice powder, and fermented bean paste into the bowl of chili peppers, mixed them evenly with a spoon, put them into three clean jars, then poured rapeseed oil over to cover the chili peppers, and finally sealed it. If you want to eat it, you have to wait a month.
Several children were reciting multiplication tables in the yard.
Li An and Li Xiaohe are young and their ability to learn is not as good as Xiaolan and Xiaotao, so Li Wanyue asked them to assist the two younger ones after class.
The children studied seriously and worked hard, and they kept chanting to themselves while collecting firewood and digging wild vegetables.
Li Wanyue looked at it and felt an inexplicable sense of pride in her heart.
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On this rare day, Li Dachuan and Li Erhu went to chop firewood. The family needed firewood more often now, so they had to prepare more.
In the morning, Li Wanyue was teaching a few children when a noise came from far away.
A few people walked to the gate of the courtyard curiously and looked out, only to see a donkey cart coming. On the cart behind it sat the matchmaker and a mother and son, all with happy looks on their faces.
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